Your Weekly Dose of Sanity Saving Good News & a Short Break from Healthcare…

“Taking action is the best cure for despair…This activism needs to be sustained, and it needs to be strategic. It needs to address voting rights, and midterm elections, and it needs to remember all the powers and possibilities that lie in activism beyond electoral politics as well. So far so good.

“People like to predict the future, often a dismal future, but the future is not written. It is ours to write. In this moment of utter turmoil, civil society must be the counter to a rogue administration, one whose victory is a surprise equaled by its myriad defeats ever since.” (Rebecca Solnit)

Good News Grab Bag!

Colorado says “No, thanks, we’re good” to Jeff Sessions’ attempt to crack down on medical marijuana. Both Democrat and Republican lawmakers are publicly supporting an existing law that bars the federal government from interfering on this issue.

Good News in the Polls!

13% of US adults have a favorable opinion of Putin, down from 22% in February. Putin’s unfavorable rating stands at 74%.

More Americans believe Comey over Trump. 45% say they believe Comey’s version of events compared to 22% who believe Trump more. (NBC News)

18% of Americans support Trump’s decision to withdraw from the Paris climate accord. 44% of Americans are “very concerned” and 26% are “moderately concerned” that withdrawing from the agreement will hurt the country’s standing in the world. 64% of Americans disapprove of how Trump is handling the issue of climate change, with 34% approving. (Associated Press)

Environmental Good News!

After the EPA deleted climate change data from their website, more and more cities are republishing that research online, as part of a larger initiative to share the information.

Michael Bloomberg tells Trump to “stop tweeting and focus on running the government.” The former mayor of New York City added that Trump’s refusal to acknowledge that climate change is real is an embarrassment. “No reputable person or scientist doubts that we are creating an environmental and a climate change problem,” he said. (CNN)

LGBTQ Good News!

The state of Oregonmade history last week by becoming the first state in the U.S. to give residents the ability to identify as non-binary on drivers licenses and ID cards, allowing them to choose “X” as their gender marker instead of “M” or “F.” The Oregon Transportation Commission made the decision following a court ruling last year allowing Portland army veteran Jamie Shupe to legally identify as neither male nor female.

Legislators in DC took the first steps to make their jurisdiction follow suit — a pattern we hope soon gains steam across the country. This push to affirm all gender identities is #GettingMeThrough this week!

Black Lives Matter – The Resistance is Powerful.

Jay-Z, whose real name is Shawn Carter, penned a short piece for Time over the weekend explaining his rationale for taking on the exploitative bail industry, which charges punishing interest rates to people forced into impossible choices by a broken system.
Read more about the story which inspired him, and then thank him for drawing attention to the enterprise. Jay-Z Roc Nation 1411 Broadway, New York, NY 10018

Philadelphia added two stripes to the Pride flag to recognize and honor people of color within the city’s LGBTQ community. Nice!

Postcard-able Events!

Thank the seven governors who joined together last week to write a bi-partisan letter to the Senate urging the Majority and Minority leadership to work to find ways to reform healthcare together. Read their letter at the link here, and the let’s thank them all. Phone #’s and Twitter handles included in case you want to save some postage on this one. It’s big.